


A Tale of Clockwork Mice

by mournholdvacation



Category: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls Online
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 10:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16852648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mournholdvacation/pseuds/mournholdvacation
Summary: "We did have a skeevaton infestation once."-A forgotten switch, a horde of small, golden mice, and a city that solves all of its problems with clockwork mechanics.





	A Tale of Clockwork Mice

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a bit of dialogue from ESO's Clockwork City DLC.

“Up!”

“Not now Zanon.”

“Up!”

“Zanon, dear, I’m quite busy.”

“Up!”

With a sigh of defeat the dark elf woman lay aside her notes and scooped up the bouncing toddler at her side, taking care not to smear the half eaten banana on her robes. Any promise of work had been dashed during the first of the day cycle, when her friend had informed her that she was ill and certainly in no position to take care of a energetic elf child. She had been left with little choice but to bring him along to work, much to the amusement of the apostle she had begun working with .

“That will be quite enough anyway, Alarvyne ,” he was saying now, plucking the last few skeevatons from the belt. “They can make due with these, we have other projects to consider. Have I told you about my latest idea?”

Banana suddenly forgotten, Zanon began to wiggle in his mother’s arm, pointing excitedly at the small, golden creatures.

“No no,” Alarvyne said, stepping away. “Not toys, my dear.”

The older apostle smiled at the boy as he pointed more eagerly, tiny fingers reaching out in a grab.

“Oh, let the child have one. They are common enough and Lord Seht would be delighted to see him expressing such a curiosity.”

“Are you sure?” Alarvyne asked as her son accepted the little mice with a squeal. “He’ll only try to chew upon it and then it will be discarded.”

The old elf huffed, his box finally packed.

“He might surprise you. Clockwork CIty’s youth show remarkable talent at a young age. Comes from being surrounded by information and willing teachers.”

Alarvyne smiled and then looked down at her son, already trying to feed his new friend bits of food. It was a nice thought, that her son might rise to the high ranks of the city and dazzle them all with his creations.

She herself had been invited to the city by a kindly mage who had taken note of her leg and spoke of Sotha Sil’s holy city and the healing she might find within. Despite her apprehension (a city of genius? take her in?) she had taken the chance and bought her and her unborn son to the golden other world

In her arms Zanon giggled and Alarvyne fell back into reality.

“Come then,” the apostle was saying, lifting the box into his mechanical arms. “Let’s see these to their new home.”

Leaving the factory behind, Alarvyne fell into place beside her boss, her mouth filling with a question and her mind focused once again upon her work.

And behind them in the now darkening room, the machine churned on.

* * *

“I’ve heard someone discovered a new element,” Nireli said, pushing another slice of cake towards Alarvyne’s hand. “By the Gear it’s been a busy spell hasn’t it?”

Alarvyne smiled, listening to her friend jabble on about new laboratories, unique and wonderful devices, and everything else under their artificial sun. Time moved differently in the Clockwork City and she had to wonder how long Nireli now thought she had lived here, despite the actual remarkable short time.

At her feet Zanon was mumbling something unintelligible to the skeevaton, carefully pushing it back and forth with his hand and drawing strange shapes in the metallic dirt. Turning back to her food Alarvyne had just taken her first bite when a small, golden object wooshed by just out of the corner of her eye.

“Zanon, go - “

She paused mid sentence, when Zanon looked up at her, mice still firmly in his hands. A false alarm then. Turning back to her plate, and Nireli’s still sprouting words, she reached for another bite.

And saw another golden streak flash by.

Not entirely unusual, she mused. After all the little machines were used in data sorting and transporting said material from one site to another. A speeding rodent was nothing to be concerned over, save for the fear that her son had lost his new toy.

And then two more raced by.

“Nireli,” Alarvyne said, grabbing at the woman’s arm. “Are there usually this many?”

“This many what?”

“Skeevatons.”

“What?”

Alarvyne pointed as yet another mice ran past, much to Zanon’s delight.

“An apostle perhaps,” Nireli replied. “One of the more research driven.”

“Nireli, I’ve counted five in less than two minutes.”

“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry ab - “

Somewhere, beyond their little table, the sharp cry of a woman pierced the air and Alarvyne rose to her feet hoping to get a better look.

“What is it?” Nireli replied, spinning about in her chair.

“I don’t know.”

A chorus of cries rose then, above the usual din of the eating hours and Alarvyne strained her ears to make out the individual words.

“ … outbreak!”

“Infestation!”

“Just came running out from the … don’t know where …”

  
“Skeevaton … must have sprung a gear …”

And then a commanding voice rose above all the rest.

“SETTLE DOWN!”

Snatching Zanon and his own metal contraption into her arms, Alarvyne raced towards the main square with Nireli close at her heel.

Beneath the statue of Sotha Sil, Luciana Pullo had pulled herself onto a large crate and was addressing the situation as best she knew how.

“Who left fabricator running?”

“Proctor?”

“The fabricator! Mice, even mechanical don’t just spawn in the Clockwork City from out of nowhere.”

Safely hidden behind one of the golden trees, Alarvyne gulped. Had she forgotten yesterday?

“Has anyone even bothered to go check it?” Luciana said, looking about at the dazed crowd. “Turn it off?”

A round of muffled conversation rose amongst the gathering crowd and Alarvyne watched as a few apostles slunk off towards the factory.

“Factotum,” Luciana called to one of the constructs nearby. “How many of these things do you think got lose?”

“Dreaming … cool breeze … warm hug … Estimates unsure. More data required to determine precise number. Given known variables however -”

“Oh forget it,” Luciana mumbled, hopping down from the box and crunching a skeevaton beneath her boot. “Look, I suggest you all get to capturing these things unless you want to wind up stepping on one in a dark room. I’m sure some of you can find a use for them. Tribunal forbid Lord Seht finds out about this mess.”

“Momma,” Zanon said suddenly, pulling at his mother’s robe. “Another?”

“Shh,” Alarvyne replied, bouncing Zanon slightly on her hip. “We must be quiet.”

“Proctor!” a voice called out above the crowd’s mumbled groans. “If I may, I think I may have a solution to our problem!”

Pushing his way to the front of a crowd, a young apostle burst out in front of Luciana, a look of excitement upon his face.

“Get the factotums to clean it up?” Luciana said.

“No no,” the man replied, waving his hands about. “I’ve been working on this new project you see, my fellows and I and I think its perfect for this little situation.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

The apostle grinned and spread his arms wide in a grand show.

“Clockwork Cats!”

  
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Despite the proctor’s clear dislike of the idea Alarvyne could already tell how the argument would go. Even her short time in the city had already learned her of the apostle’s pride and quick action towards any display of their projects. Besides, what better way to capture clockwork mice? Wasn’t the city a mirror of Nirn Above?

Luciana exchanged a glance with the guard at her side and then threw her arms up in defeat.

“Fine,” she said, “have it your way. But if I wake in the morning to five cats peering down at me and licking the gears on their paws I’m going to start smashing.”

“No no no,” the apostle said quickly. “They’re be no trouble at all. Just a quick release of the group, a few clicks of the gear, and our problem will be solved!”

At Alarvyne’s side, Nireli was saying something.

‘Cats! I’ve been wondering if they’d ever come around. Do you think they will be offered as pets?”

“I don’t know Nireli, but listen I really need to go.”

“I wonder how close they will mimic the real thing. I was born in the city you know, but I’ve done my research and they seem like remarkable creatures.”

“Nireli I really have to be going.”

“Huh? Oh! Don’t let me stop you!” She smiled at Zanon. “Motherhood duties calling?”

“Something like that.”

* * *

By the time she reached the door, her boss was already coming out.

“Oh, Alarvyne! Here for the fabricator? No need to worry, no need to worry. It’s well in hand. Ah, more in hand.”

“Do we have any idea what caused it to um … “

“As the proctor said, someone must have left it running. Certainly not one of us I’m sure. It will come out in the records or the troublemaker will come forward. In the meantime the Great Gear spins onward and I’ve heard they’ve already set the cats to work.”

He smiled at Zanon and patted the child on the head.

“Better hold onto that boy, the people here won’t want to see another skeevaton for an era after all of this is through.”

Perhaps the old elf was right, perhaps she simply needed to return to her room and take a nap and a few sips of a drink and wait for the cats to their job. Then it would be back to work and the whole thing blown over.

It would be fine.

* * *

 “Cat!”

  
Alarvyne groaned as her son climbed onto her small bed, pressing his hand against her face.

“Cat!” he said again eagerly, and through half closed eyes she could make out his hand pointing towards the door where something golden sat. Almost immediately she jerked awake, rubbing at her eyes and frowning at the clockwork cat that sat purring (or at least, a mechanical version of it) in her room without a care in the world.

“Zanon,” she said, searching their living area for the boy’s skeevaton. Spying it upon the shelf she had prepared for it before bed, she breathed a sigh of relief and slipped from the bed.

“No skeevatons in here,” she told the creature, opening the door and attempting to shoo him out. “How did you get in here anyway?”

“Meow?”

“Yes you!”

Shoving it into the hall with her foot, Alarvyne let out a scream at the sight of a large, clockwork dog suddenly bouncing down the hallway and heading straight for her. The cat hissed, steaming as it hastily darted into her room and Alarvyne slammed the door.

“Mama?” Zanon said, clutching at the blanket on the bed.

“I’m fine,” the dark elf woman panted, opening the door just a crack to look out into the hall.

“Hello?”

An eye, or rather face, was attempting to peer through the crack and not hearing the whirl of gears Alarvyne opened it once again.

“Sorry about that,” said the young dark elf standing there. “I think I must have misaligned a gear or set the wrong enchantment. I didn’t design him to be so … well, like that.”

“Why are there hounds now?” Alarvyne asked, fearing to hear the answer that already beat in the back of her head like a sinister drum.

“Oh well, we’re deploying them to catch the cats.”

The dog returned to his side now, clicking his head and dropping what appeared to be the leg of a cat at his feet. It’s tail leap from side to side, much like the real dogs she had once enjoyed but for all its similarity Alarvyne found herself unable to get past the unblinking eyes.

“What’s wrong with the cats? Didn’t they catch the skeevatons?”

“Oh well,” the elf ran a hand down the back of his head. “They uh, did but, now we have seem to have a um, crowd of cats. The council can’t stand the yowling and they keep climbing on everything! So we’ve been ordered to release the new hound project.”

“I see.”

Zanon had strolled to his mother’s side at this point, grinning at the large dog before him. Alarvyne could already hear her son should the apostles ever decide to release their work as companions. A room full of gears and mechanical cries. She would have to move from her cozy space to a larger living area.

At least they would be easier to take care of them their living counterparts.

“I’d better not keep you,” she said at last, moving to shut the door. “I’m sure you have lots of work.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, gotta get these into the center and let them start tracking. Sorry again about the trouble!”

Letting the heavy metal snap shut Alarvyne turned to her son with a smile.

“You want to go for a walk buddy?”

“Yeah!”

* * *

 The Brass Fortress was almost unrecognizable.

Golden scraps of mice in every corner, clockwork cats perched upon every table, and mechanical dogs perched beneath the metallic trees barking loudly at some unseen threat. A far cry from the usual scene atmosphere of mumbling apostles and the sound of tools.

“Make way! Make way!”

“Reach me that gear!”

“Oh! He got another one!”

If the mess was clearing up any Alarvyne certainly couldn’t tell it. In fact the chaos only seemed to have gotten worse, adding two more types of pests instead of just one. At the least the children seemed to enjoy it. The few little ones of the city were running about, screaming as they chased a rather small clockwork hound down one of the paths.

Perhaps a signal of some sort? she thought as she lead Zanon around overturned tables and crushed flowers. One beamed from the top of the main fortress to shut down all functions? Or would that halt the factotums as well? Maybe one specially aligned with the various lengths …

“Please tell me you’re not here to ‘help’,” Luciana grumbled as she approached the proctor. “I’ve already had five apostles and one cat. Did you know some slagging idiot actually designed them to cough up gears?”

“Are we making any progress?”

“If we were it lost it again by some idiot’s idea to release the hounds. Lord Seht is going to come back to a petting zoo instead of a city.”

“Has anyone tried to contact Lord Seht?”

Luciana shook her head, and Alarvyne felt the strange kind of ignorance she had often felt when discussing the Light of Knowledge. For all that she had learned of The Three at the Temples it all seemed to pale and fall short here in the holy city itself.

“He’s in the Cogitum Centralis , like I told you before. Has been before you and the kid got here. Not for long of course but it could still be another month or two before he comes back.”

“Do you think he knows what’s going on?”

“The apostles say he hears our prayers but who can really know anything about the Father of Mysteries?”

At the sound of metal scraping against metal Luciana spun about, catching her weapon upon her shoulder.

“If I have to send another repair factotum down there because you can’t extract a skeevaton from a vent I’ll -”

Her threat dissolved into the background and Alarvyne watched as a clockwork cat made its way up Sotha Sil’s statue to curl atop his outstretched hand. Zanon let out a laugh, clapping his hands at the apostles that danced about the base, calling for said cat to come down.

Alarvyne could only laugh along with her son as the cat peered down, seeming to decide its masters were not worth its time and roll over onto the warm metal to sleep. Whoever had been left in charge of the creatures’ personality had gotten it right at least.

Despite the humor of the situation she had to wonder though. How long would it all last? Surely some of the more dedicated, elder members of the council and apostles would be tired of the commotion before too long and put an end to it right?

Perhaps tomorrow would be better.

* * *

 The next day, nor the next showed little sign of improvement. Much to the contrary yet another set of clockwork animals were released. A group of foxes, met to lure the now numerous dogs into nets and then return themselves to their room.

They had taken to hiding in the golden bushes and playing tricks on the cats.

The day after that came small insects. Bees, she thought, with the idea of landing a sting of some sort to shut the creatures down and leave the pieces to be picked up. Said plan had worked for an hour or two, until a younger apostle had sent out a second group with a slipped gear or two and found himself being stung.

Alarvyne had kept herself and Zanon locked in their room for the rest of the day.

Wind up bears had come next, sent to seek out the oil the insects were dripping but instead quickly finding the rooms full of the city’s produce and supplies. There had been less of a surge of these however as it seemed the occupants of the city were more than willing to defend their food.

The next day bought tigers with loud, whirling gears and roars that woke Zanon from a midday nap and sent him into tears. Their heavy footfalls seemed to echo about the brass fortress and Alarvyne had retreated to the Mnemonic Planisphere and spent her day watching the stars with Zanon.

And by the next, she was exhausted.

“Momma?”

Alarvyne sighed and fell back into a chair, watching Zanon peek up at her from his blocks. He’d been building the little cubes about his skeevaton and babbling nonsense words but at his mother’s sigh of exhaustion he’d become curious.

Despite a earlier report of operation after she had left the fabricator Alarvyne was still having trouble shaking off the idea of her own fault in the whole mess. To think she might have caused such trouble, despite her careful checks and second checks was like a gnawing hunger in the pit of her stomach.

Looking over at the small shrine to Sotha Sil she wondered for a moment of this was a test. The Father of Mysteries left his people to their own devices, true but wasn’t he a teacher as well? Perhaps he was waiting for her to point out her own mistake, like a naughty elf child who has cheated on a test and whose teacher will not allow them break until a confession.

The Cogitum Centralis was off limits of course, but perhaps someone like Luciana could get in touch with him if the need was great? And even if it weren’t her fault, surely they should have contacted him by now? She could only imagine Mournhold overun, and no one bothering to tell Lady Almalexia.

Maybe it was the pride of the apostles, or the fear of letting their god see them at wit’s end in a city built upon knowledge. Whatever the reason Alarvyne was quite sure it didn’t apply to her. She would seek out Luciana or another of the council members, request a audience with Lord Seht or at least convince them to send someone for him.

“Come on Zanon,” she said, taking her son’s hand in hers. “We’re going to go find Lord Seht”

* * *

 “Lord Seht, please bless these honest labors.”

“Lord, Mother, and Wizard, look upon my family today, protect them from the danger of the road.”

“Oh Father of Mysteries, grant me this prayer.”

Sotha Sil’s fingers hovered over the panels at his side, his thoughts a swirled jumble of prayer, idea, and mystery.

“Oh mighty Three, look upon your humble servant and bless me that I may bring this labor to fruit!”

“Clockwork God, I ask you to send healing to my son, legs for him to stand upon!”

“Holy is the Mother who cares for her children. Holy is the Father who teaches us wisdom. Holy is the Warrior Poet who guides our very steps.”

Aetherius, Oblivion, Mundus, the secrets of the planes open to him, and ready to be discovered.

“And Lord Vivec, please watch over Mother and Father. And Lady Almalexia please keep my little brother safe. And Lord Sotha Sil, please help me to do well on my test.”

“Oh Light of Knowledge, look upon us and grant us this boon!”

“Lord Seht! Save us from the bears!”

Not an usual prayer in itself. How many times had a foolish Dunmer wandered into the territory of a beast and called upon ALMSIVI to rescue them from the chasing jaws? More times than he cared to remember, certainly. But this prayer …

Spoken by one of his own, one of the residents of the grand city beneath his feet.

The city that certainly didn’t have any bears.

Peering closer he could see a group of apostles, frantically trying to get a large, wind up bear back under control as said beast raked his claws over a pump. At their feet a mechanical hound chased a cat that was chasing a skeevaton.

About the city the situation seemed to play out again and again. Clockwork beasts packed into the streets with the people wildly waving their arms in exhaustion. An humorous situation, save for the destruction and fear. Perhaps Almalexia was right. Perhaps they really couldn’t leave them alone.

At least he’d have a story to tell her.

* * *

 “You, you, and you, start rounding up those tigers. I need you three to take a net and catch that herd of cats. And you!” Luciana shouted, pointing a finger toward the apostle at her side. “If I hear another word about Clockwork Dragons I’m going to personally chunk you into the Radius myself!

Holding Zanon’s hand tight in her’s, Alarvyne pushed her way towards the proctor, tugging her small son to urge him to keep up.

“Proctor!” she cried, making her way up the short set of steps. “I think maybe -”

“Not now,” Luciana said, waving her to silence. “I have more than enough to deal with right now.”

“But - “

A soft shriek came from Zanon then as he lost grip on his skeevaton, letting it fall to the ground and scurry off a short distance with a whirl of its gears.

And right into the path of a bear.

Alarvyne tensed at the crunch and the cry of her child as the skeevaton collapsed under the heavier metal. Before she could stop him, Zanon had broken free and grabbed his friend from the street.

“Get him indoors Alarvyne,” Luciana was saying now. “Unless Lord Seht himself comes to clean up this mess it’s gonna be pretty dangerous for a while.”

“Yes, that’s what I wanted to say! Has anyone -”

“Oh slag it.”

Any words left in Alarvyne’s mouth died as she followed the proctor’s gaze to the statue of Sotha Sil. For beneath the golden globe the god himself had appeared, hands clasped behind his back and watching calmly as the chaos in the city died down and several pairs of eyes, both organic and fabricated, turned to look at him.

“Lord Seht,” Luciana said, the first to find her voice. “We’re glad to see you.”

“I’m glad to see my city still stands despite its multiple newcomers.”

“Yes,” Luciana replied, turning to look at a group of apostles. “It started rather small, and then a few of us got the idea to invite some larger friends.”

“Perhaps in the future we will take care to restrict such heavy numbers. And be sure to better check our doors.”

Alarvyne pulled Zanon to her side, eyes flitting from Luciana to the Clockwork King. She had worshiped the Three in her past life of course. Had learned and prayed new prayers to Sotha Sil upon her arrival to the city. But to see him the flesh? One of the living gods of Morrowind?

It was almost too much.

“The Clockwork City shall bear this weight no longer,” he said now, raising his arms. “This work shall be destroyed, and your shall create anew.”

If Alarvyne was expecting a flash of light or the swirl of magic it did not come. Instead the machines simply seemed to collapse upon themselves, the gears groaning under an unseen weight and their legs sinking to the ground. Too late she remembered Zanon’s skeevaton and reached to take it from his hand.

Despite the clockwork’s unfortunate accident the little creature still seemed to function, clicking its head as Zanon held it close to his chest. Quite different from the cat at her side who had let out a yowl as it deactivated.

“Alright people!” Luciana was yelling. “I want to see apostles, factotums, and every hand in this city moving to collect these piles of scrap!

An efficient and rushed order, cutting off the cries of praise and thanks that the people of the city were still uttering to their savior. They cut a pleading look at their god before setting about to work, grumbling about hard labor and how they’d left Nirn Above for this very reason.

“Not you,” Luciana said suddenly at her ear. “Take the kid home and leave this work to the ones who caused it.”

“Luciana, about that -”

“Motherhood is hard enough without having to worry about every gear and switch in this city.”

A look of understanding passed between the two women then and for a moment Alarvyne wandered between wondering just how much the proctor knew, and how comforting the older woman’s friendship was. Only the sound of her son’s voice broke through the fog.

“It’s broke!”

Peering around Luciana, Alarvyne was just in time to see her god kneel before her small son.

“Is it?” Sotha Sil was saying, taking the skeevaton from the boy’s small hand.

The golden thumb of his glove swept over the back of creature, seeming to spark the metal with a golden light.

“What is he doing,” she asked softly, standing on tiptoe.

“Being Lord Seht,” Luciana said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I’ve not met a kid yet he couldn’t charm.”

Placing the skeevaton back into Zanon’s hands, Sotha Sil rose to his feet and nodded to Zanon as he turned and raced back towards his mother. The skeevaton clicked once more, head looking back and forth and the little gear on its back spinning as though brand new.

Shaking her head Luciana stepped away, quickly finding an unfortunate group to give fresh orders to. For a moment Alarvyne stood staring at the Father of Mysteries, trying to bring proper words to her tongue. How to tell him thank you for the golden leg that supported her weight. How to tell him how much the city felt like home. How to confess that she was sure the situation had been her fault all along and how grateful she was for fixing the little mice that Zanon would surely drool upon that night cycle and -

“Lord Seht,” one of the apostles said suddenly, approaching the wizard with a bowed head. “I’m afraid … Well I mean … That is to say - Some of the skeevatons, all of the skeevatons. They’re still up and running!”

For a moment Alarvyne could have swore the ghost of a smile appeared on Sotha Sil’s face, a look of mischief almost that she never would have expected.

“Yes,” Sotha Sil said. “I know.”


End file.
